Street-railway track



(No Model.)

F. J. UNDERWOOD.

STREET RAILWAY TRACK.

No. 310,234. Patented Jan; 6, 1885 [5011. B312, 1C /3 7c 1 d 2B ISill/1%,!!!

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLAVIUS J. UNDERWOOD, OF NORTH SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI.

STREET-RAILWAY TRACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 110,310,234, dated January6, 1885.

Application filed August 31, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FLAVIIIS J. UNDER- WOOD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at North Springfield, in the county of Greene and Stateof Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvement-s inStreet-Railway Tracks, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My inventionisa new and useful compound wood and iron rail forstreet-railways.

The object of my invention is to provide for the use of a T-rail onstreet-railways, and to make a track on which the car will move easily,and at the same time save expense and provide a railway easilycrossed bywagons and other vehicles. These objects I attain by means of the deviceillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1, 2, and 3are sectional views of the device; Fig. 4., a detail view of therailway.

A is a T-rail, made of iron or other suitable material.

B B are rails, best made of wood, and held to the ties O by means ofspikes Z) b, they being bolted together through the T- rail by a bolt,(1, as shown in Fig. 1. The outer rail, B, is made about the same heightas the T-rail A, and with a beveled top, 71, sloping from the insideoutward and downward, as shown, and being of wood it permits a wagon orother vehicle to pass over the track at a small angle with itself withease, and thus avoids the slipping and sliding of vehicles in crossingstreet-railways, as is now the case. The inner side of the rail B ismade straight, as shown at c, Fig. 2, but preferably cut to tit thegroove of the T-rail, as shown at t, Figs. 1 and'3. The inner rail, B,is made of similar material as the outer, and to answer the samepurposes. The upper edge is beveled, slanting outward, as at f, andupward toward the T-rail, and with a groove, f, cut out next to the T-rail the de sired size for the flange of the car-wheel, but best outbeveled clear across, as shown at g, Fig. 3. In either case the sidenext to the T- rail may be cut straight, as shown at 6, Fig. 2; but Iprefer to cut it to fit the groove of the T- rail, as shown at 2', Figs.1 and 3.

The T- rail may be spiked to the ties, and the rails B B spiked also tothe ties, as shown in Fig. 2; but it is preferable to have the T railmade smaller and save material, and to make the other rails to fitit togive it strength, and to bolt them together and spike the outer rails, BB, to the ties, as shown in Fig. 1. Over the tics G earth or othersuitable mate rial, D, is placed.

The compound rail, as above described, is stiffer than the T-rail now inuse, and may be used with but little inconvenience to vehicles upon anystreet, and is much better than the street-railway track now in use.

I am aware that it is not new to construct a T-rail, or to constructarail for railroads consisting of a T- rail with two wooden rails fittedbeneath and on the side, so as to give a vertical and lateral support tothe T-rail, or to construct a rail for railroad-crossings consisting ofa T-rail with wooden rails on each side, one of which has a guard-ironfor strengthening the T- rail. I do not-,therefore, claim suchconstruction, broadly; but,

Having thus described the use and construction of myinvention,whatIclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A streetrailway rail composed of a T- rail, resting upon and spikedto the cross-ties O, and two wooden rails, B B, bolted together by boltspassing horizontally through the said T-rail, which is placed betweenthem, the outer wooden rail being beveled from a point next to and on aline level with the top of the T rail outward and downward, and theinner rail, B, beveled from a point next to and as near the T-rail asthe flange of the car-wheel will permit, all arranged and constructedfor using the T- rail upon streetrailways, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. The combination, in a street railway rail, of a T-rail, spiked to thecross-ties G, with two wooden rails, B B, also spiked to the saidcross-ties, and bolted to each other by bolts extending through the saidT- rail, the outer one extending to the top of the T- rail, the innerone extending as near the top of the T-rail as the flange of thecar-wheel will permit, all constructed and arrangedsubstantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FLAVIUS J. UNDERWOOD.

Witnesses:

FRED RIXINenn, 0. IV. Ti-rnilsnnn.

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